On the day that Lu Shunde's troops were transferred to the Puxi battlefield, the two strongholds of Luojiagang and Huacao, which were attacked by the Taiping army, were finally lost one after another, and the rope around the neck of the Wu army in Shanghai was suddenly tightened a few points.

On the contrary, the most stressful Nanxiang Wu army gritted its teeth and insisted until it was dark, and then abandoned the camp to break through according to Zhou Tenghu's request, but the Nanxiang Wu army with heavy casualties broke through at this time It was too late and too late, and the red-eyed Taiping army pursued closely in order to avenge the fallen companions, and the Nanxiang Wu army retreated to the river bridge on the way to Suzhou Creek with considerable water potential, and was raided by the Taiping army when crossing the river, and only less than 100 soldiers of the two battalions escaped from the Suzhou Creek, and Chen Jingsheng, the main general of the personal palace, was surrounded by the Taiping army on the north bank of the Suzhou Creek, Unwilling to be captured and humiliated, he committed suicide by throwing himself into the water, and died without bones.

Zhou Tenghu, who was too tired, only learned about the almost annihilation of Nanxiang's Wu army in the early morning of the next day, but Zhou Tenghu, who had just woken up, had no time and energy to mourn for Nanxiang's Wu army, because almost at the same time, Wusongkou also sent an urgent report, saying that the Taiping Army Navy fleet composed of four steam gunboats had arrived at Chongming Island, and that the soldiers might invade Wusongkou at any time and kill directly under Shanghai through the Huangpu River.

Another dilemma was placed in front of Zhou Tenghu, sending troops to reinforce Wusongkou would definitely give the Taiping army the opportunity to take the opportunity to fight a decisive battle in the field; When Wusongkou falls, the Taiping army's steam gunboats will enter the Huangpu River, and not only will the Wu army on both sides of the Huangpu River be in danger of being divided, but the concession and the county seat of Shanghai will also be directly threatened by the Taiping army's artillery fire.

In desperation, Zhou Tenghu could only hurriedly convene his subordinates to discuss countermeasures, and discuss whether to send troops to reinforce Wusongkou by water and stop the Taiping Army's naval division outside the Huangpu River? As a result, what made Zhou Tenghu even more troublesome was that during the discussion, his two most important deputies in the military, Deng Siyuan and Meng Qi, had completely opposite opinions, and they blushed and had thick necks.

"No troops!"

Deng Siyuan, who has the most stable personality, resolutely opposed the dispatch of troops, and said: "In order not to give Changmao the opportunity to force us to fight a decisive battle in the field, we can't even save Nanxiang if we see death, and the distance between Wusongkou is even farther, and sending the main force to reinforce Wusongkou is not to disperse the forces by ourselves, just to give Changmao the opportunity to divide and surround our main force?" In this situation, we can only concentrate our forces in one place, so that we can keep Shanghai and hold on until the main force of the king of Zhennan comes to help! ”

"Wu Songkou must be saved!"

Meng Ji's attitude was more resolute than Deng Siyuan's, and he argued loudly: "If we lose Wusongkou, the long-haired steam gunboat will sail directly into the Huangpu River and join their land division, which can not only immediately cut off our connection with the Pudong battlefield, but also directly threaten the Shanghai neighborhood and the concession with artillery!" ”

"What is the situation in Shanghai now, you don't know yet? Can you afford a flowering cannonball with long hair? Even if we can ignore the casualties and losses of the people, what about those hungry refugees from other places who take the opportunity to make trouble and loot? Can we take care of it? The people are in turmoil, and Long Hair takes the opportunity to fight again, how can we defend Shanghai? ”

Meng Si's opinion did not convince Deng Siyuan, Deng Siyuan still insisted on worrying that Wu Songkou would dilute his troops by himself by increasing his troops too much, giving the Taiping Army a chance to break the Wu army in Shanghai.

"Two generals, don't quarrel, listen to me."

Afraid that Deng Siyuan and Meng Ji would hurt the harmony, Jin Anqing hurriedly opened his mouth to dissuade him, and proposed a new possibility in order to interrupt, saying: "Two generals, have you ever considered doing this?" Don't increase the troops at Wusongkou, and don't give the long-haired gunboats a chance to get close to Shanghai, and kill the long-haired steam gunboats on the water from Shanghai to Wusongkou? ”

Deng Siyuan and Meng Si both smiled bitterly when they heard this, and then Meng Si spoke: "Mr. Meisheng, if we have an advantage in the field battle, the method you said is absolutely feasible, as long as we pull up an iron cable on the Huangpu River, build forts on the east and west banks, block the channel with artillery fire, and cooperate with the sampan clipper to fight on the side of the ship, there is indeed hope to kill the four long-haired steam gunboats." But we don't have any advantage in the field, and to do so is to let the brothers on the battery die in vain? ”

Jin Anqing's purpose was just to avoid the expansion of the quarrel between Meng Ji and Deng Siyuan, and he was not angry when Meng Ji refuted him, he just nodded, and added casually, asking, "Isn't it okay to fight only on the water?" The foreigners have a steam gunboat and two sail gunboats in Shanghai, ask them for help, plus our sampan fleet, are you sure to kill the four long-haired steam gunboats on the water? ”

"This ......."

Meng Wei and Deng Siyuan, who had never fought in a water war, could not answer Jin Anqing's question, and Liao Haizhong, the commander of the Shanghai Navy Division of the Wu Army, had previously led some of the soldiers to go to Europe with Wu Xiaohua to receive the steam gunboats purchased from the British. ”

"Pei Xing, do you remember how our Zhennan King fought in Tianjia Town?" Zhou Tenghu, who had been listening to the discussion of the martial arts under his command, suddenly opened his mouth and asked: "Is it the first battle after the main force of our water division was formed, and the battle of the weak and strong Changmao Shi Xiangzhen water division was defeated?" ”

Before Zhou Tenghu's words were finished, Meng Yu, Deng Siyuan, Jin Anqing and others had already changed their faces, and Pei Xing gasped, but after gritting his teeth, Pei Xing still raised his head and said solemnly: "If the handsome man needs it, the last general will dare to do it!" ”

"How sure are you?" Zhou Tenghu asked.

Pei Xing hesitated again, and then said: "I am not very sure, I may be more sure to do it at night, and I really don't dare to guarantee that I will be able to succeed at the end of the day." ”

Zhou Tenghu tapped his fingers on the table and calculated for a long time, considering that it was indeed dangerous to divide the troops too much, and at the same time, the loss of letting the Taiping Army's naval division shell the concession and the castle town in Shanghai was too great, Zhou Tenghu still decided to be a dead horse as a live horse doctor, and instructed Pei Xing: "Pei Xing, you go to see Master Wu now, tell him the situation, and ask him to take you to the British General He Bo to discuss whether this is okay?" ”

Pei Xing agreed, and immediately got up to say goodbye to see Wu Lao's comprador, and Zhou Tenghu also temporarily shelved the discussion of whether to send troops to reinforce Wu Songkou, and instead studied and discussed with Meng Qi, Deng Siyuan and others the adjustment of the defensive line after being forced to shrink.

Let's look at the situation on Pei Xing's side, when Pei Xing found Wu Lao's comprador to explain the situation, Wu Lao's comprador, who was working for his grandson, of course, immediately led Pei Xing into the concession, and found the commander of the Shanghai Allied Army, British Rear Admiral He Bo, who was currently recommended by the consuls of various countries in the concession.

It's a pity that Uncle He didn't give Wu Lao comprador a chance to speak first, and in turn roared at Wu Lao comprador all the time, condemning Shanghai Wu Jun for failing to hold Nanxiang, allowing the Taiping Army to directly threaten the northern and eastern districts of the Shanghai Public Concession, seriously affecting the life and property interests of Western expatriates in Shanghai.

The national situation is like this, and he is a comprador background, of course, Wu Lao comprador can only explain and apologize to He Bo with a servile face, crying and begging He Bo for forgiveness and understanding of Wu Jun's distress in Shanghai. However, He Bo was very dissatisfied with the fact that the Wu army in Shanghai had always refused to send troops to reinforce Nanxiang, and was unwilling to accept Wu Lao's explanation, so he roared at Wu Lao's comprador again, and finally asked Wu Lao's comprador about his intentions.

Old comprador Wu and Pei Xing hurriedly told them what they meant, but unfortunately they were ridiculed by Uncle He in person, "Dear Wu, do you think that the Taiping army are all fools?" Will you drive the steam gunboat into the narrow Huangpu River in the dark of night for your boat to sneak attack? And will not pay attention to the small boats in the battle, and give your sampan boats a chance to get close to their side? ”

"Dear General Hebo, but when my grandson was in Hubei, he used this method to defeat the Taiping army?" Old comprador Wu said directly in English.

"It's a different situation and can't be replicated." He Bo shook his head and said, "When I visited Hubei, I once visited the battlefield of Tianjiazhen, where you used gunpowder ship tactics, and I also carefully understood the course of that battle. Your Hubei army was able to succeed because the water on the battlefield was fast, the river was wide, you had the advantage of water and wind upstream, and there was enough space to avoid the attacks of the Taiping army, so you were able to create such a miracle. ”

"But the situation here in the Huangpu River is completely different, the water downstream is gentle, the water is narrow, and your sampan boat can't take advantage of its speed and agility. As long as the Taipings pay a little attention to protecting the side of the ship with small boats, it will be difficult for your powder ships to get close to their side, and even if you are lucky enough to get close to the side of the Taiping steam gunboats, the Taiping steam gunboats can quickly get rid of you by virtue of the advantage of their speed. After all, as long as the captain is in his right head, he will never give the enemy boat a chance to get close to the side of the ship. ”

After categorically vetoing the suicide boat tactics of the Wu army in Shanghai, He Bo said even more unceremoniously: "Wu, if you want to stop the steam gunboats of the Taiping Army and prevent them from entering the Huangpu River, there is only one way, which is to defend the Wusongkou Fort with all your strength and block the Huangpu River channel with the firepower of the fort!" ”

"Force the Taiping Navy to sail into the Huangpu River after paying a heavy price, and then I can command the Mr. Fox, take your fleet and those two French sail warships to defeat the Taiping Army downstream, and not give the Taiping Army steam fleet a chance to get close to the docks in the Shanghai neighborhood."

Pei Xing had already told Wu Lao comprador the reason why Zhou Tenghu did not dare to send troops to reinforce Wu Songkou Fort, which would of course Wu Lao comprador did not dare to easily let go of his agreement, so he could only ask: "Dear General He, there is no other way except this method?" ”

"What else can be done?" He Bo asked rhetorically, and his mind moved at will, so he made up for it again, and said: "Of course, taking advantage of the opportunity that the Taiping Army's steam gunboats are still parked at the dock of Chongming Island, it is also a way to let your gunpowder ships rush to the dock and explode, and if you are lucky, you may be able to directly sink one or two Taiping Army steam gunboats." ”

Hearing this, Old Comprador Wu's eyes suddenly lit up, and he didn't hesitate to pull Pei Xing next to him and said, "Let's go, take the old man to see Zhou Taofu." ”